Chapter 32: Ricochet's Offer

The next day the boys were goofing off again over breakfast. They ate the meal but in between pushed and shoved each other, and sometimes Misty even saw food being flung across the camp. How do they survive if they're so childish? she asked herself. Ricochet seemed to be the most mature one, and even he was careless; as if he wanted to act immature but wasn't.
"Can't they just eat their food?" Campbell muttered in annoyance as Tornado flung part of a rabbit at Colton.
"Apparently not," sighed Lilypaka, shaking her head.
Misty was about to speak up when Moonshadow came over, stopping at the fence, as if not knowing if he could cross or not. "Hey," he said in greeting.
"You lost?" Campbell said with a slight chuckle.
Moonshadow shook his head. "Just wanted to tell you guys something."
"What is it?" Lilypaka asked curiously.
The black wolf hesitated, but spoke up. "I wanted to stay here," he insisted.
Misty blinked at him in surprise. "What?" she said after a little while of silence.
"I have nowhere else to go," Moonshadow said. "The Tribe boys accept me. And Ricochet even extended an invitation to stay."
"Don't you have anything you'd be leaving behind?" Lilypaka said confusedly.
Moonshadow once again hesitated. "Well...my family's dead. I have nowhere to go."
Misty nodded in understanding; that was why he had been alone when they found him.
"Well it's not our decision. Stay if you'd like," Lilypaka nodded.
"Wait," Campbell said. "Did Ricochet ask anyone else to stay?"
"Well...he did invite the others..." Moonshadow said nervously.
"And what did they say?" Campbell demanded.
"...Nothing...but they seemed to be considering it," Moonshadow frowned.
Misty heard Campbell curse under her breath. "What?" Misty said. "We can't stay here."
"Of course they'd think we could!" growled Campbell in annoyance. "They think this place is a paradise, since they get to be so carefree."
"They should know we can't stay," Lilypaka commented. "We have to go to that...place," she said warily, glancing at Moonshadow.
"I'll talk to them," said Campbell, standing up with an annoyed look on her face.
"No, I will," Misty insisted. Campbell would lose her temper at them, she told herself. And sure, Misty could get annoyed too sometimes, but she could control it better than her friend could.
She expected Campbell to protest, but all the gray wolf uttered was "fine" and sat back down. Misty nodded and walked past the fence to head to the boys' side, and she could feel Moonshadow following close by.
Bracken, Rhett, Koro and Ophir were with Zela and Ethan, all of them talking. Misty approached them but they didn't stop their conversation. "Hello," she said to them.
They stopped and looked up upon her arrival, looking surprise. "Hey Misty!" exclaimed Bracken.
"Why're you here?" Rhett asked in confusion. "You're usually on your side of the camp."
"I'll cross if I want to," said Misty defensively. "Now did Ricochet say something about letting you guys stay?"
The guys exchanged looks before Rhett said, "maybe."
"Did he or did he not?" Misty demanded.
"Who told you tha--" Rhett began, and then he saw Moonshadow standing not too far away. The black wolf seemed to be listening in on the conversation, Rhett scowled at him. "Of course. Filthy snitch..."
Moonshadow gave him a look and Misty turned back to the boys. "And we're not staying, right?"
"Of course we're not," Koro insisted.
Misty glanced at him. He smiled slightly, but she didn't return it. "I'm not assured."
Rhett scoffed. "Why would we stay here? We have...other stuff to do."
"Aww c'mon!" Zela protested. "You guys are cool. Why not stay?"
"We're not here to join a new group. We have a home. And a mission," Koro added.
"Mission, shmission," snorted Ethan in the beginning of laughter. "I think you'd like staying here."
"What about the girls?" Rhett said.
Zela shrugged. "They can just keep doing what they're doing."
"I think they hate it here," Ophir chuckled.
"You could ask if I do instead of pretending like I'm not here," Misty said in annoyance. "And it's okay here, but we can't stay."
"I think Misty's right," Bracken said, but he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
"I know I'm right," Misty insisted. "It's the selfless thing to do to leave."
"Yeha, yeah, heroicness and all that," Rhett muttered.
Misty sighed, pretty sure she couldn't make any further points. "Good. Thank you." She then turned and left the boys, who she could hear murmuring to each other as they left.
She almost made it back to her side of the camp when she felt something jump onto her back. "Mistake! How nice to see my faithful minion."
"Hey Tiggerpaka," she said, fully knowing it was the meerkat even before he jumped down in front of her.
"That black wolf, uh...Rickshy? He asked us to join his Tribe." Tiggerpaka snorted in the beginning of laughter. "He's obviously in need of a better leader, but you'll be happy to know I declined the offer. It's a shame, though. These poor Tribe boys need someone like me. But there is no one like me."
Misty glanced over at Ricochet, and her stomach lurched in fear as she realized he was listening in on Tiggerpaka's words, eyes narrowed. How far would the Tribe leader be willing to go to prevent the meerkat from becoming a new leader figure to the boys?
"Yeah..." Misty said hesitantly, prying her gaze off Ricochet and turning back to Tiggerpaka. "But, uh...right now, I have an important mission for you." She figured she needed the meerkat to do something to keep Ricochet from getting any madder at him.
Tiggerpaka lit up. "You chose the right meerkat for the job then, minion!"
"There are...flowers in the woods," Misty said darkly. "Yeah, they're this odd color, like no one has ever seen before. And they'll kill us all."
"I'll slay them!" Tiggerpaka declared, grabbing a stick that was laying nearby and holding it up.
"Good! Once you see a flower that looks threatening, destroy it," she nodded. And just like that, Tiggerpaka scampered off, yelling some sort of a battle cry. That'll keep him out of Ricochet's way, she told herself. And from getting us in trouble...

Author's Note:
First day of summer for me :D Dad let me take off the last two days lol.
So I decided to work on this TFEOB chapter, and for the first time in a while I'm watching Duck Dynasty while I work on it. :P
Hopefully since it's summer vacation I'll be working on TFEOB more, and on my new story, To Glory. The Powered Ones - which as been on hold for a while - is also due to start sometime this summer. Stay tuned!

Chapter 31: The Opposite Meeting

Liberty made her way down the hallway, ignoring the other animals on either side of her. They seemed to stray away from her, giving her looks - they still were wary of her, after what she had done. Good, Liberty told herself. Then I suppose I'm doing a good job. She was supposed to separate her opposite from the rest of the Tower anyway; it had been Ash's orders. And, as he had said to her and others, it was all part of a bigger plan.
She made her way into Ash's den. He had called her in to talk to her. Undoubtedly about how well I've been doing, she thought, a small smirk on her face as she told herself this.
Ash was examining himself in the pool that was in the leaders' den. He looked up upon her arrival. "Ah. Liberty," he said coldly.
"You asked for me?" she asked with a smile.
"Yes..." Ash murmured, and then next thing Liberty knew he was right in front of her, snarling. "What have you done, moron?!"
Liberty flinched slightly, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean," Ash hissed. "You let yourself be seen."
Her heart skipped a beat in alarm as she realized what he was talking about. "H-How did you--"
"Know that?" he said, scowling. "I have eyes everywhere, Liberty. They saw what they saw."
She thought for a moment before cursing to herself. Sparky. Traitor, she thought to herself. He was also on duty at the time, and nearby where she was. Who else would've told Ash what happened? "I'm...sorry," Liberty said apologetically.
Ash scoffed in the beginning of laughter - a dry laugh that wasn't at all good-hearted. "You think sorry can fix this?" he snarled. "Your opposite saw you. It could jeopardize the whole plan!"
"Then what can I do to fix this?" Liberty asked calmly.
"Nothing," Ash spat. "Nothing, Liberty. Your opposite saw you. And she's much too important to lose."
Liberty nodded, recalling the plan Ash had explained to her and the others so many times. "I know, but maybe you can manipulate her somehow. Turn it in your favor."
"Don't you think I would've if I could find a way?" Ash growled. "You messed this up, Liberty. You're worthless. I should've just left you in Yin!"
A pang of hurt flashed in Liberty - and jealousy. "I-I'm not worthless," she stammered, unable to hide any nerves from her voice.
"Yes you are," Ash snapped.
Liberty was silent, not sure how to respond. "So how...?"
"You have one more chance to prove yourself to me." He then brought his face slightly closer, and it took all of Liberty's will not to flinch away. "And if you don't succeed, you'll be begging me for death."

Liberty hesitantly responded, "but if you harm me, my opposite will also--"

"You don't know everything about opposites," he hissed. "Now--"

Suddenly there was the sound of scampering pawsteps. Ash stiffened, then quickly darted out of the room, and Liberty realized what it meant.

Someone had been eavesdropping. 

There was a yelp and the sound of a mixture of scampering and slamming pawsteps, then Ash was wrestling someone into the room, forcing them onto the floor.

It was a female wolf, that Liberty had recognized as being named Mkia.

Author's Note:

I'll be posting more in the summer, which is coming up soon; last day of school is June 16th. ^-^

Also, my grade and I are going on a field trip to an amusement park on Monday. :3